Questions about NPIs & this directory.

A National Provider Identifier, or NPI, is a unique 10-digit numeric identifier assigned by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to every healthcare provider in the United States who transmits health information electronically. NPIs were introduced in 2007 under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) administrative simplification provisions and replaced a patchwork of legacy provider numbers used by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers. The NPI is permanent, follows the provider through career moves and address changes, and is required on virtually every healthcare claim, prescription, and electronic transaction.

Yes. NPI Type 1 is issued to individual providers: physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, therapists, social workers, and any other natural person rendering healthcare services. NPI Type 2 is issued to organisations, including group practices, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, ambulance services, and any other entity that provides healthcare. A single individual can hold a Type 1 NPI for personal practice and also be linked to one or more Type 2 NPIs through their employer relationships.

Every record on FindMyNPI is sourced from the NPPES public dissemination file published monthly by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The dataset is in the public domain and contains the same fields the providers themselves submitted when they registered with the NPI system: legal name, credentials, primary practice address, mailing address, taxonomy codes, telephone, fax, and the dates of enumeration and last update.

We reproduce the NPPES record exactly as published. CMS does not independently verify provider-submitted data; the burden is on the provider to keep their record current. If a provider has moved practices, retired, or had their license suspended without updating NPPES, that lag will be reflected here. For licensing status, always consult the relevant state medical board.

NPPES contains a primary practice phone number for most providers and we display it. Email addresses are not in the public dataset. Photographs are not part of NPPES and are not reproduced here.

Yes. See the opt-out page. We do not require any documentation; an opt-out request from the email or phone listed on the NPPES record is sufficient. We aim to remove records within forty-eight hours of a verified request.

No. FindMyNPI is independently operated and is not affiliated with any federal agency. The authoritative NPPES Registry is operated by CMS at npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov.